Adaptation to climate change: The irrigation technology mix of Italian farmers

Farmers should increasingly adopt more water-efficient irrigation technologies-such as drip irrigation-as a result of climate warming and aggravating water scarcity. We analyze how Italian farmers adapt to climate change by changing their irrigation technology mix. We apply a two-stage econometric model to data from 5876 Italian farms. We find that farmers' initial reaction to increasing temperatures is reducing their surface-irrigated fractions. When temperatures increase further, farmers switch toward more sprinkler irrigation. Our results show that farmers are not autonomously moving to drip irrigation in response to climate change, suggesting that government incentives are needed to encourage this transition.

Automated summary

Farmers should adopt more water-efficient irrigation technologies such as drip irrigation to cope with climate warming and worsening water scarcity. A study on Italian farmers found that they initially reduce surface irrigation when temperatures rise and gradually switch to sprinkler irrigation. However, farmers are not choosing drip irrigation on their own, indicating the need for government incentives to encourage this transition.